Upper Virginia
03-01-2006, 14:38
OOC: Well, it is finally time for Upper Virginia to hold elections – its first since 1932. This election will be for the reconstituted National Assembly. Regardless of the outcome, Becka Harrison will remain the President. She has promised to eventually schedule new presidential elections, but not date has been set for them as yet.
OOC Continued: This thread is the obligatory party introduction and public poll thread for the National Assembly elections. I will treat this poll as a public opinion poll for the upcoming elections. Those who wish to influence the outcome can post IC here – posing questions for the parties or engaging in skullduggery – and can telegram me their votes for the NA. I will use telegrammed votes to help determine the outcome of the IC elections.
OOC Concluded: For background on Upper Virginia you can look in these threads: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=324857, http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=335787 or http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=354264, or check our NSwiki page here: http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Upper_Virginia. Thanks for checking in. Cheers.
With political parties banned from 1932 to 2005, new parties have had to be created from scratch to contest the upcoming National Assembly elections. Here is a capsule review of the parties registered for the elections, currently scheduled for late January.
National Renaissance Party: Founded by Graham Yultilde, the current Foreign Secretary and former Vice Chairman of the Chamber of Industrials, the NRP exists primarily to support the reform policies of President Becka Harrison. The party favours cutting the formal and informal ties between the government and industry and reducing the hidden taxes that disproportionally affect the middle and working classes. It supports sharp reductions in Upper Virginia's bloated military and security apparatus. It advocates using money cut from the security budget to fund education and basic welfare programmes, such as unemployment compensation. However, the party also argues that, in the near term, Upper Virginia needs "directed democracy." Therefore, it supports granting the President and cabinet broad powers over the day-to-day operations of the government and the reform process until such a time as the National Assembly, as an institution, is sufficiently well-developed to take upon itself the more traditional powers of a legislative body.
Democratic Recovery Party: Headed by reform activists, many of whom had been jailed under the former military government, the DRP agrees with NRP on much of the reform agenda. It is a middle-of-the-road party in terms of economics and social policy, favouring the creation of basic social welfare guarantees while maintaining a free market economy. It disagrees sharply with the NRP on two issues: executive authority and foreign policy. The DRP has stated publicly that, while they credit President Harrison for overthrowing the former military dictatorship and initiating an extensive reform movement, they fear that without a strong, vigorous and independent National Assembly she could become yet another dictator. In foreign policy, the DRP believes that President Harrison is too closely tied to the three powers that helped overthrow the previous government and that Upper Virginia should chart a more independent and neutral foreign policy. The most prominent leaders in the DRP are Dean Chandler, the one-time leader of Students Against Dictatorship, who spent 15 years in prison under the former government, and Dace Zalitis, the former Director of Education under the former regime, who was jailed by the regime for more than a decade for publicly complaining about the lack of funding for education and the lack of academic freedom in the universities.
Democratic Union of Workers, Farmers, Greens and Students: The DUWFGS – known as the Democratic Union – is the legal face of the Free Virginia Liberation Army. Led by current Secretary of Social Welfare Greg Baker, the Democratic Union advocates the gradual implementation of extensive social welfare policies. It supports converting the nation to an ecologically sound policy of sustainable growth and putting the material needs of the people ahead of economic special interests. The party calls for the adoption of a federal system that would grant the areas around the city of Harrington that are currently occupied by the FVLA autonomy from the central government. The party also calls for the immediate withdrawal of Excalbian, Varessan and Pantocratorian troops.
National Independence Party: Led by the former mayor of Courtland, Ralph Armistead, the NIP is closely associated with loyalists to the former military government. However, the party is striving to position itself as a mainstream centre-right party. It calls for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Upper Virginia, an independent foreign policy, restrictions on immigration and pro-growth economic policies. It has publicly called for Upper Virginia to join the Knootian International Stabilisation Treaty and to pursue a free trade agreement for all of the Atlantic. It also calls for reversing the current policy of downsizing the military and believes that Upper Virginia military supremacy in the Excalbia Isles must be reestablished.
Liberty and Prosperity Party: The LPP is led by the current Commerce Secretary, Marcus Poole, and is closely associated with Chamber of Industrials Chairman Forrest Turley. The LPP strongly advocates economic reform, including membership in the Knootian International Stabilisation Treaty and the establishment of free trade through out the region. The party also advocates a strong and democratic National Assembly, open immigration, military downsizing and regional autonomy. It has called for friendly relations with Knootoss, the C.S.S. and the Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream as a counterweight to the nation's current dependence on Excalbia and Pantocratoria.
Upper Virginia Liberal Party: The UVLP is centre-left party that advocates economic reform, including the creation of extensive social-welfare guarantees, under a centralized government and free market economy. It rejects the Democratic Union's calls for regional autonomy as a cover for allowing the FVLA to continue covertly undermining the central government. The party, led by economist Jan Harrelson, who spent two decades in prison under the former military government, also advocates extensive guarantees for civil liberties and constitutional reform to abolish the current presidential system and replace it with parliamentary democracy.
OOC Continued: This thread is the obligatory party introduction and public poll thread for the National Assembly elections. I will treat this poll as a public opinion poll for the upcoming elections. Those who wish to influence the outcome can post IC here – posing questions for the parties or engaging in skullduggery – and can telegram me their votes for the NA. I will use telegrammed votes to help determine the outcome of the IC elections.
OOC Concluded: For background on Upper Virginia you can look in these threads: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=324857, http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=335787 or http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=354264, or check our NSwiki page here: http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Upper_Virginia. Thanks for checking in. Cheers.
With political parties banned from 1932 to 2005, new parties have had to be created from scratch to contest the upcoming National Assembly elections. Here is a capsule review of the parties registered for the elections, currently scheduled for late January.
National Renaissance Party: Founded by Graham Yultilde, the current Foreign Secretary and former Vice Chairman of the Chamber of Industrials, the NRP exists primarily to support the reform policies of President Becka Harrison. The party favours cutting the formal and informal ties between the government and industry and reducing the hidden taxes that disproportionally affect the middle and working classes. It supports sharp reductions in Upper Virginia's bloated military and security apparatus. It advocates using money cut from the security budget to fund education and basic welfare programmes, such as unemployment compensation. However, the party also argues that, in the near term, Upper Virginia needs "directed democracy." Therefore, it supports granting the President and cabinet broad powers over the day-to-day operations of the government and the reform process until such a time as the National Assembly, as an institution, is sufficiently well-developed to take upon itself the more traditional powers of a legislative body.
Democratic Recovery Party: Headed by reform activists, many of whom had been jailed under the former military government, the DRP agrees with NRP on much of the reform agenda. It is a middle-of-the-road party in terms of economics and social policy, favouring the creation of basic social welfare guarantees while maintaining a free market economy. It disagrees sharply with the NRP on two issues: executive authority and foreign policy. The DRP has stated publicly that, while they credit President Harrison for overthrowing the former military dictatorship and initiating an extensive reform movement, they fear that without a strong, vigorous and independent National Assembly she could become yet another dictator. In foreign policy, the DRP believes that President Harrison is too closely tied to the three powers that helped overthrow the previous government and that Upper Virginia should chart a more independent and neutral foreign policy. The most prominent leaders in the DRP are Dean Chandler, the one-time leader of Students Against Dictatorship, who spent 15 years in prison under the former government, and Dace Zalitis, the former Director of Education under the former regime, who was jailed by the regime for more than a decade for publicly complaining about the lack of funding for education and the lack of academic freedom in the universities.
Democratic Union of Workers, Farmers, Greens and Students: The DUWFGS – known as the Democratic Union – is the legal face of the Free Virginia Liberation Army. Led by current Secretary of Social Welfare Greg Baker, the Democratic Union advocates the gradual implementation of extensive social welfare policies. It supports converting the nation to an ecologically sound policy of sustainable growth and putting the material needs of the people ahead of economic special interests. The party calls for the adoption of a federal system that would grant the areas around the city of Harrington that are currently occupied by the FVLA autonomy from the central government. The party also calls for the immediate withdrawal of Excalbian, Varessan and Pantocratorian troops.
National Independence Party: Led by the former mayor of Courtland, Ralph Armistead, the NIP is closely associated with loyalists to the former military government. However, the party is striving to position itself as a mainstream centre-right party. It calls for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Upper Virginia, an independent foreign policy, restrictions on immigration and pro-growth economic policies. It has publicly called for Upper Virginia to join the Knootian International Stabilisation Treaty and to pursue a free trade agreement for all of the Atlantic. It also calls for reversing the current policy of downsizing the military and believes that Upper Virginia military supremacy in the Excalbia Isles must be reestablished.
Liberty and Prosperity Party: The LPP is led by the current Commerce Secretary, Marcus Poole, and is closely associated with Chamber of Industrials Chairman Forrest Turley. The LPP strongly advocates economic reform, including membership in the Knootian International Stabilisation Treaty and the establishment of free trade through out the region. The party also advocates a strong and democratic National Assembly, open immigration, military downsizing and regional autonomy. It has called for friendly relations with Knootoss, the C.S.S. and the Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream as a counterweight to the nation's current dependence on Excalbia and Pantocratoria.
Upper Virginia Liberal Party: The UVLP is centre-left party that advocates economic reform, including the creation of extensive social-welfare guarantees, under a centralized government and free market economy. It rejects the Democratic Union's calls for regional autonomy as a cover for allowing the FVLA to continue covertly undermining the central government. The party, led by economist Jan Harrelson, who spent two decades in prison under the former military government, also advocates extensive guarantees for civil liberties and constitutional reform to abolish the current presidential system and replace it with parliamentary democracy.